Job Openings and Labor Turnover: January 2012

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

There were 3.5 million job openings on the last business day of January, unchanged from December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and separations rate (3.0 percent) were little changed over the month. The job openings rate has trended upward since the end of the recession in June 2009. (Recession dates are determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research.) This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by geographic region for January 2012. The release also includes 2011 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual totals for hires and quits increased in 2011 while the annual total for layoffs and discharges decreased.

Job Openings

The number of job openings in January was 3.5 million, unchanged from December. (See table 1.) Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.3 million openings when the recession began in December 2007, the number of job openings has increased 45 percent since the end of the recession in June 2009.

The number of job openings in January (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the year for total nonfarm and total private; the level was little changed for government. Several industries had increases in the number of job openings over the year. The Midwest and South regions also experienced an increase in the number of job openings over the year. (See table 5.)

Hires

In January, the hires rate was essentially unchanged at 3.1 percent for total nonfarm. The hires rate was little changed over the month in all industries and regions. (See table 2.) The number of hires in January was 4.2 million, still below the 5.0 million hires at the beginning of the recession (December 2007) but up 13 percent since the end of the recession (June 2009).

Over the past 12 months, the hires rate (not seasonally adjusted) was little changed for total nonfarm and total private but increased for government. The hires rate rose over the year in mining and logging; arts, entertainment, and recreation; and state and local government. The hires rate fell over the year in federal government. In all four regions, the hires rate was little changed over the year. (See table 6.)

Separations

The total separations figure includes voluntary quits, involuntary layoffs and discharges, and other separations, including retirements. Total separations is also referred to as turnover.

The seasonally adjusted total separations rate was little changed in January for total nonfarm, total private, and government. (See table 3.) Over the year, the total separations rate (not seasonally adjusted) was little changed for total nonfarm and total private but increased for government. (See table 7.)

The quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to change jobs. In January, the quits rate was unchanged for total nonfarm, total private, and government. (See table 4.) The number of quits rose to 2.0 million in January from 1.8 million at the end of the recession in June 2009, although it remained below the 2.9 million recorded when the recession began in December 2007.

The number of quits (not seasonally adjusted) in January 2012 increased from January 2011 for total nonfarm, total private, and government. One region—the Northeast—experienced an increase in the number of quits over the year; the other regions had little change in the number of quits. (See table 8.)

The layoffs and discharges component of total separations is seasonally adjusted at the total nonfarm, total private, and government levels. Beginning with this release, layoffs and discharges is also seasonally adjusted for the regions. The layoffs and discharges rate was essentially unchanged in January 2012 for total nonfarm, total private, government, and in all four regions. The number of layoffs and discharges for total nonfarm was 1.6 million in January, down from 2.1 million at the end of the recession in June 2009. (See table B.)

The layoffs and discharges level (not seasonally adjusted) for total nonfarm and total private was little changed from January 2011 to January 2012 but increased for government. Over the year, the number of layoffs and discharges rose for educational services and state and local government but fell for finance and insurance. In the regions, the West experienced an increase in the number of layoffs and discharges over the year while the South experienced a decrease. (See table 9.)

1 For region definitions see footnote 8, table 1. p = Preliminary

Beginning with this release, the other separations component of total separations is seasonally adjusted at the total nonfarm, total private, and government levels. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, and disability, as well as transfers to other locations of the same firm. In January 2012, there were 326,000 other separations for total nonfarm, 260,000 for total private, and 66,000 for government. (See table C.) The number of other separations for total nonfarm in January 2012 was 11 percent higher than at the end of the recession in June 2009.

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in January 2012, hires totaled 50.2 million and separations totaled 48.3 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.0 million. These figures include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

Annual Levels and Rates

This release contains the 2011 annual levels and rates for hires, total separations, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Note that annual figures for job openings are not calculated because job openings are measured on a stock, or point-in- time, basis rather than on a flow basis over a specified time period. The annual figures and additional tables are published with the release of January data each year. (See the Technical Note for additional information on these measures.)

Calculating annual levels and rates allows additional comparisons across years. In 2011, annual hires, quits, and other separations rose for the second year in a row while layoffs and discharges annual levels fell for the second year in a row.

In 2011, annual hires increased to 50.1 million (38.1 percent of employment) and annual total separations rose to 48.2 million (36.7 percent of employment). Annual quits increased to 23.6 million (17.9 percent of employment) in 2011. Annual other separations also increased in 2011 to 3.9 million (3.0 percent of employment). Annual layoffs and discharges decreased in 2011 to 20.7 million (15.8 percent of employment). (See tables 11 through 20.)

Revisions to Job Openings and Labor Turnover Data

In accordance with annual practice, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data have been revised to reflect annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics (CES), or establishment survey, employment estimates. The JOLTS employment levels (not published) are ratio-adjusted to the CES employment levels, and the resulting ratios are applied to all JOLTS data elements. This annual benchmark process resulted in revisions to all not seasonally adjusted JOLTS data series from April 2010 forward, the time period since the last benchmark was established. Additionally, the seasonally adjusted JOLTS data series have been recalculated from January 2007 forward to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors. Further, the methodology incorporated in 2009 to more closely align the hires and separations estimates with the monthly payroll employment change created a dependency of the not seasonally adjusted estimates on the seasonal adjustment process. Therefore, the not seasonally adjusted data series have been recalculated from January 2007 forward to reflect the updated seasonal adjustment factors’ effect on the alignment process.

Effective with this release, BLS has implemented an improved birth/death model in the JOLTS program. Data from December 2000 forward were revised using the improved model. The original birth/death model was implemented in 2009 to provide an estimate for that part of the population that cannot be captured in the traditional sample. The improved model better distributes business births and deaths throughout the calendar year. (See the Technical Note for a more complete description of the revised birth/death model.)

Also effective with this release, several additional data series will be published on a seasonally adjusted basis. Job openings, hires, and separations data for the health care and social assistance industry are available online and are published in this release in tables A, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Layoffs and discharges data by region are available online and published in table B of this release. Other separations data by ownership (total nonfarm, total private, and total government) are available online and published in a new table C in this release. The previous table C in this release has been dropped. The quits and layoffs and discharges levels in the previous table C remain available on the JOLTS website, enabling users to calculate the percentage contribution to total separations that were contained in the table.

Tables D through I present revised total nonfarm data for January through December 2011. The December 2011 revisions also reflect the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the final December estimates. Table D (job openings), table E (hires), table F (total separations), table G (quits), and table H (layoffs and discharges) present revised data on a seasonally adjusted basis, incorporating the new seasonal adjustment factors, benchmark level, and birth/death model update. Table I (other separations) presents revisions on a not seasonally adjusted basis since that series was not available on a seasonally adjusted basis last year. Tables presenting revisions to historical series will be available on the JOLTS website in the near future.

The JOLTS website contains all revised historical seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted JOLTS data. The data can be accessed through the JOLTS homepage at http://www.bls.gov/jlt/.

Further information on the revisions released today may be obtained by calling (202) 691-5870 or via the Internet on the JOLTS homepage.